Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-08
MODERN RED AMAZONS.
A PECULIAR SETTLEMENT OF THE
NEz PERCES RESERVATION.

NEZ fGhCCS fES6hYHt .ON.
Women Who Conduct All the Affairs Of
Ordinary Life-Expert Riders and Oar
ing Horse Trainers-Uonderful Feats
with the Lariat.
A few weeks since accepted an invitation
from an official to accompany him on q bust
ness trip to one Of thu most peculiar settle
ments on the Nez Perces Indian reserva-
walton. The undertaking neceSsitated
horseback ride OF thirty miles; but when told
that the vicinage to be visited was that no
torious one managed almost exclusively by
the squaws, | hesitated 10 longer Tho
ground was white with frost and the east
wind was sharp enough to make our noses
red, as the galloping ponies hurried Us along
the road before the sun appeared above the
gray, grass covered hills that formed the
near horizon. Five miles OF I'D grade and
we were in the sunshine. Though late in
October, the glow OF the new day came over
Us like delicious bath The wild prairie,
rising and falling in little billocks, extended
before Us for a distance of fifteen miles,
each waveIike swell rising above the other,
up to the blue timbered mountains that in
closed the landscape ike q frame for the
picture. All this area is rich and the native
grasses grow with luxuriousneSS No culti-
waited me ldow is more fertile than the virgin
soil OF this elevated plateau, ynfenced, I'M
owned as il is, and yet those OF whom it is
entailed are government pensioners. We
came TO the brow OF q hill. Down, down
below 1900 feet, We're Lapwai creek and the
beautiful valley. We had looked across the
canyon when we scanned the vast expanse
and observed no break in the undulating
surface. This was the former home of Chief
Joseph's braves, and is the present home of
the remnant of that branch of the fierce
tribe
The valley OF Lapwai is veritable
modern Eden. Though 800 miles from the
Pacific ocean, it is only 920 above the level
Of the sea- The thermometer seldom regis
tiers as low as zero. The high walls protect
the valley from wind storms and the snow
fall is very light. The soil is a rich sandy
loan, but, contrary to the usual order of
things, it is dry and requires irrigation,
while the high table land on either side is
moist from natural sources The creek in
October is only a succession Of pearly ripples
and clear, shady pools, that make one look
for and expect to see the flashing sides of
IiAt StItCAACtI 1t e&AlOIflS IIlt NdttI
ply for the small farms. and little bitches
run through every field. Rude fences of logs,
sticks, and stones encircle nearly all the
rich bottom land. Cross fences divide the
whole into A. many fields Us there are fam
lily divisions of the tribe, and a group of
wickiups tents or Old dingy cabins on some
sunny slope near the running water afford
shelter for a numerous progeny of dusky
lounsers on each subdivision. \ picture of
one of these holdings WIN apply to every
other one. The same tumbled down fences,
forsaken looking, unpainted old buildings,
half buried in rank weeds; 4 half dozen
squaws, of ell ages, sitting in the fashion of
the Turk on the sandy ground in the sun.
There is something noble about the Indian
before he IS degenerate1 by contact with
the white man. His bright eye, his erect
form, his muscula: development and his pow
ers of endurance We're distinctive features
Of his race before the inroads of civilization
blighted his very vitality. As we rode
quietly past these simple homes two young
squaws rode past US. Their gaudily ca
parlsOned horses were rearing and plunging.
while they laughed and chattod, seemingly
unconcerned. They filed my ideal of what
Pocahontas might have looked. On the
other hand, there Is no specimen of fallen
humanity more abioct than the Indian who
has given up the chase Of the plains for the
ways OF civii"o 3. We met them on the
road 10 the CT, 80 york at family wash
ing, or o.hsT oil jobs, for scanty wages
whie.4 ~ would spend for drink if posi-
bic. I..,.r clothing was filthy rags, and
their ey cry feature an expression of misery,
os they logged aoas Letridse their miser-
able ponies.
There are comparatively few Of these out
casts connected with the Ncz Perces tribe
They have been associated with the whites
for fifty years, but have not sUccuplbei to
vices, as is usually the custom when the
races intcrlu.nrlc. The richness Of tho COun-
try selected as their home, the best pre-
serves Of game III the mountains near by,
and tho fish in tie streams have supplied
the wants or nature so fully that they have
boon independent. JCseph's braves were
bred amid their surroundings Their
cunning, their proves, their powers Of en-
durance surprised the world at large and
terroriz-d Idaho.
Tc saw women Of all ages everywhere.
They worked in the fields, carried wood
from the grove by the creek on their broad
hacks for int,r Use, and packed tEe wheat
to mill on tha oye-blrlcnel pcnies.
Nearly all tie young men became entauglel
in the complications that led TO the war OF
1877. and eithor fell in battle were baD-
zAe} With their chief. Or scattered among
sy1naathiz.ng tribes on both sides Of the
Rock mountains to avoid prosecution b.
the civil authorize. Tie females shoot the
bear and the elk, herd and brand the stock.
ard attend to al the bushes Of tie house
hold. Thor cattle and lorsss OF which some
families own LARGO nl.s9asa, run wild on
tie ranges. AMI tle cslvgs are caught by
means Of The i-5,J al bran ~, and are not
corCeligl. Tnsir h-unt5 are fer bGc.; from
the settlements On the broad l.ate9u whore
both horse and cattle Ire uaG:s;.srb-s, and
die Of old eco wild horses in large RUM
bers without brands or owners roam that /
bouujics5 pan
A cloud oi white dust extending from She
rim Of the liCh mountain on TIC east OF US /
far down toward the level fairly darkcaed (
the sun. i rumblipg sound was heard, /
the earth seemed 10 tremble, and then so !
putting, painting horses came running OF iu- /
r;oUs speed down the steep sloT@ When /.
they reached the level they began to spread (
OFT in al directions. 4 Young Indian /
Woman, mounted on a foaming, rearing I
horse. that was Giingiug the white froth - /
be tossed his head, came dashing out Of the /
5liudinz dust around the surging mas. and /
-Grned i toward the cpza corral b. grace /
fully throwing out the coils of a long Rata. 4
Ihe horses cgce in the corral we-o cuiet, 4
JGt crowded together, and each tried To I
aide his head behind his companions. They i
we're driven n FOR sale. Drovers were dis I
~ass.Dg pics and qualities with TIE aid Of /
n Interpreter with three sisters They 4